The Unconventional Second
by Mai Lynn Bennet
Summary: From the little Philip knew about duelling, you needed a second. Someone who has your back, is responsible enough to get things sorted if the duel goes sour, and most importantly, someone who is logical and sensible enough to talk your ass out of said duel in the first place. And as unconventional as it was, Philip knew of only one person who fit that description.


**AN: This all came about when a friend and I were talking about how "Blow Us All Away" would have gone had Theo been there – this was the result. Enjoy!**

From the little Philip knew about duelling and their commandments, you needed a second. Someone who has your back, is responsible enough to get things sorted if the duel goes sour, and most importantly, someone who is logical and sensible enough to talk your ass out of said duel in the first place.

And as unconventional as it was, Philip knew of only one person who fit that description.

* * *

Theodosia Burrs' first encounter with a Hamilton was when she was three years old, when her mother invited Mrs Hamilton and her new baby Alexander Jr. over for afternoon tea. Theodosia Sr. had let her have a few sips from one of the nice china teacups Theo wasn't normally allowed to touch, and Mrs Hamilton let her hold baby Alexander for a few moments, and told her she would get along quite well with her eldest, a boy named Philip.

Mrs Hamilton, in Theodosias' opinion, was nice enough. Alexander didn't do much. When she told her mother this later, she explained that that was because Alexander was just a baby and probably stay "boring" for quite a few months before he could do much more than sleep, eat and cry.

Theo decided then and there (and she told her mother this too, in her very best grown-up voice so her mother knew she was serious) that she was never having babies because babies were boring.

Her mother had just laughed and told her she'd change her mind when she was older.

Theo was absolutely certain she wouldn't.

* * *

The next time Theo met a Hamilton, she was four-and-a-half years old, and Mr Hamilton (whos' Christian name, she later found out, was the same as baby Alexander whom she'd met the year before), had come to visit her father on some very-important-work-business. Theodosia had been out with her mother when he'd arrived, and was still talking to her father after they'd returned for another half-hour, so Theodosia decided it must have been very important.

When she finally heard the door to her fathers downstairs study, she'd all-but ran down the stairs to meet this man who had taken up so much of her fathers time. She reached the bottom of the stairs just in time to see the two emerge in a flurry of words, papers, files and coats, headed for the front door. The two men stopped when they saw Theodosia stood on the bottom step, eyes wide and curious. Theodosias' father stepped towards her,

"Alexander, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Theodosia. Theodosia, this is Mr Hamilton, a work colleague." Theo made sure to give Mr Hamilton her loveliest smile, before curtsying just like her mother had taught her. Mr Hamilton had laughed at bit at this (which confused Theo, because she wasn't aware being polite could be found funny), before bowing.

"It is an honour to finally meet the famous Theodosia. Your father speaks very highly of you." He says, kneeling down to her height, "And how old would you be?"

"Four-and-a-half." Theo tells him very seriously, "I'm a big girl."

Both Mr Hamilton and her father laugh, "You certainly are." Mr Hamilton responds, "My son Philip is about to turn six. You two would probably get along".

Theo crinkled her nose, "Not with a boy. My mother says boys aren't big boys until they're twenty. I only play with big children." Once again, Theo wasn't sure why both her father and Mr Hamilton were laughing at what she said, because these sorts of things seemed very important to her, but before she had time to question him, Mr Hamilton had responded,

"I'm see. I'll be sure to tell Philip that." With that Mr Hamilton had stood up and pulled his coat on, adjusting his hold on the documents in his arms. He bade farewell to her father, before giving her a low bow and then he was out the door and gone before Theo even knew what to think.

She told her father later that she thought Mr Hamilton was a very odd man. He told her he very much agreed with her, but she was never to say that to Mr Hamiltons face, because he would not take that very well. Theo agreed.

* * *

Her third encounter with a Hamilton was the very next day, and although it wasn't technically a _Hamilton_ that Theodosia met, Mrs Church reminded her so much of Mrs Hamilton, there really wasn't much difference in her mind.

(Mrs Church, she would later be informed, was Mrs Hamiltons' sister.)

Theodosia had just come downstairs for lunch, when she found the maid, Florence, taking the coat of a lady in a lovely orange dress.

"Ah, Theodosia," Florence said upon seeing her at the bottom of the stairs, "This is Mrs Angelica Church." She crouched down to Theos' eye line, in a way that Florence only ever did when she had something very important to ask her, "I have to go fetch your father for her, would you mind entertaining Mrs Church for me while I do so?"

Theo grinned and nodded, skipping past Florence over to where Mrs Church stood, "Good morning Mrs Church. Welcome to our home." Theo had heard her mother say these words to many guests when they entered their house, and knowing how important it was to make a good first impression, Theo carefully continued with her mothers script, "May I ask after the purpose of your visit?"

Mrs Church, Theo was grateful to see, also seemed to understand the importance of the situation, and responded in kind, "Good morning Miss Theodosia. I've just come on behalf of my brother-in-law, Mr Hamilton. He left some important papers here yesterday, and as I was passing through the area on my way to lunch, I said I would pick them up for him. Mr Hamilton would have collected them himself, but its Philips birthday today, and thus he's a little busy." She took a seat on the chair near the staircase, "What were your plans for today Miss Theodosia? I do hope I haven't interrupted anything."

Taking a seat on the staircase, Theo shook her head, "Mama promised she'd read me some poetry this afternoon, but until then I have been having a tea party with my dolls. Although Papa won't let me use actual tea in my tea parties – which I think is very unfair seeing as _he_ gets to use real tea for _his_ tea parties."

Mrs Church laughed, "Yes that does seem quite unfair." She paused, regarded Theo closely, "You would quite like my nephew Philip. He writes poetry."

Theo was about to answer, when her father swept into the room with what Theo could only assume were the documents Mrs Church was talking about. Taking the files from him, Mrs Church had bade farewell to both him and Theo, not before recommending Theo one of her favourite poets, and then, just like Mr Hamilton the day before, she was gone.

Mrs Church, Theo decided, was much less odd than her brother-in-law, and she liked her very much. Any adult that said she could use real tea in her tea parties couldn't be _that_ bad.

* * *

Looking back on it now, it was odd just how long it actually took for her to meet Philip. She had just turned seven (and was currently missing both her front teeth and feeling very sorry for herself), he was eight-and-a-half, and their parents had both seen it fit (without any prior correspondence) to bring them both to their first ball. Theo had been stood off to one side with her mother, when Mrs Hamilton had come over, a young boy covered in freckles with the most outrageous hair Theo had ever seen trailing behind her. After the customary pleasantries had been exchanged between the two older women, Mrs Hamilton had ushered the young boy forward introducing him as, "Philip, my eldest, and aspiring poet." And then adding, "I've told him all about you, Theodosia." (Which Theo thought was quite odd, seeing as Mrs Hamilton had only met her once). Nevertheless, Theo curtsied, to which Philip responded with a low bow.

The adults, seemingly satisfied by their interaction, turned back to their own conversation, about debt plans and other boring things Theo would only learn to care about much later. Instead she turned her thoughts towards the boy in front of her.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone with _both_ their front teeth missing." Philip told her bluntly, "And I've got three younger siblings."

"Well I don't think I've ever met such a short boy." Theo stepped closer to him, raising her chin, "Papa says I'm quite tall for my age, but I don't think you're ever going to be taller than me."

Philip had frowned at her for a moment, before reaching out and tapping her shoulder shouting, "Tag you're it!" and running off into the sea of people.

And for once, Theo didn't think twice about being polite to the other guests around her, before starting off after him.

* * *

Eleven-and-a-quarter years later, the two of them were fast friends. Theos' reserved, sensible and overall calm personality complimented Philips' fiery, stubborn and sometimes extremely recklessness in a way that no one – least of all their fathers – would have expected. Theo kept Philip from acting too rashly in many situations, helped him stay focused during his studies and was always a consistent pen pal/news reel for when he was away at school. In return, Philip helped Theo become a bit less fixated on constantly behaving for 'polite society', gave her more opportunities to learn after she ran out of tutors willing to teach her, and, more importantly, was the window for her into the full family life she never had – she'd never trade her family for the world, but it was nice to escape to the Hamiltons every now and again and pretend she too was a part of this enormous family that never seemed to stop.

Somewhere in between her mother dying and his father publishing that damned pamphlet, the two also became each others confidant. If ever something was wrong, they wanted advice for something, or to just simply talk, they need only travel to the others house, where they would sometimes talk for hours on end about everything and anything (more often than not it was Theo talking Philip down from doing whatever idiotic thing he was talking about doing next). It was this part of their friendship that lead to Philip knocking on Theo's door one cool November morning.

It was Florence who'd answered the door and let him in with a simple, "She's in the library, shall I take your coat sir?", to which he had said "Thank you", handed her his coat and made his way to the library.

Theo was sat on the window seat, watching the back garden while cupping a warm mug of tea in her hands, which she put down when he entered the room.

"Philip!" She exclaimed, moving over to embrace him, "What a surprise! I was going to visit this afternoon, when I knew most of your family would be home." Taking his hand, she led him to the window seat where they could both sit and talk, "How have you been? Tell me all that has happened, two weeks away is like a lifetime for a Hamilton." Philip chuckled softly at the old joke, before taking both of Theos hands in his, his face hardening. Theo frowned, "Philip what's wrong?"

He met her gaze, "I challenged someone to a duel last night. We're meeting this morning to discuss terms."

Theo didn't respond for a moment, before she started laughing, "Very funny Philip, now really what's the matter?"

"I'm being completely serious Theo. George Eacker insulted my father, I can't just let that slide."

Theo pulled her hands from his abruptly, "You're serious. Philip you're actually serious."

He blinked at her, "Of course I am. No one insults my father and gets away with it."

"But Philip – a duel? Really? Its completely uncivilised, not to mention uncalled for – not only that, its horrifically barbaric."

"Uncalled for? Theo he insulted my father in front of hundreds. What else was I supposed to do?!"

"Just let it go? My God Philip he's not the first man to insult your father and he certainly won't be the last and -"

"That doesn't matter! He's my father Theo, if I don't defend him who will?" They were both standing by this point, their shouting probably heard by most of the household staff, if not the whole neighbourhood. Theo was counting her lucky stars that her father was still in Washington and wouldn't be home for several days.

"Philip you need to stop this nonsense right now. You go through with this and you have so much more to lose than just your pride."

"My pride? If I don't have my pride then what do I have?"

"Me!"

Theos' outburst pulled them both up short. Philip turned away from her, looking down at his hands awkwardly, while Theo sat back down on the window sill. There was silence for another few moments before Theo spoke,

"If you absolutely insist on going through with this, then let me be your second."

Philips' head jerked up, "What?"

"In a duel, the two people duelling always have a second, someone to have their back and look after things if the duel goes sour. Let me be your second."

Philip stared at her dumbly for a few more moments before nodding, "Ok."

There was silence for a few more moments before Theo spoke up, "Good. I mean, who else could talk your stupid ass out of a duel. Certainly not you and your big mouth. Or should I say hair?" This comment seemed to crack the tension in the room and soon both of them were laughing, "Seriously though Philip, I swear there's more of it than when I left."

He just grinned and ran his hand through it, "I like it. I think it suits me."

Theo rolled her eyes, "I think it makes you more stupid. I was gone for two weeks and you've gotten yourself into a duel. You didn't go and propose to anyone while I was gone too? That would really take the cake."

He laughed, "Without consulting you first? You'd skin me." Glancing up at the clock on the wall, "Speaking of duels, we'd best go. Can't have you waste any precious time you could be using to talk my ass out of this duel."

She gave him a small smile, easily showing her worry, but stood nonetheless, telling him she'd just go grab her coat and some better shoes and meet him downstairs.

* * *

From there the duel had all but fallen apart.

To say Eacker's second had been shocked to see Philip show up with a woman for a second would be an understatement. He had almost downright refused to let the meeting take place before Theo had pointed out that in doing so he would be forfeiting the duel, leaving Philip victorious. The meeting went for two long hours before they had finally agreed on a time and place (Eacker had arrived half an hour into the meeting and by the end, even Theo wanted to shoot him). When Philips father found out the duel was taking place, he'd told Philip to aim for the sky, and when Philip relayed that advice to Theo she had pointed out that Eacker was in no way a man of honour and if Philip gave him a clean shot he was going to end up dead.

In lieu of this information, Philip decided to take Theo's side over his fathers.

When the day of the duel arrived, Eacker was again shocked to find out a woman would be witnessing the duel. He continued to try and make her turn away, or leave, claiming he wouldn't shoot in front of a woman. Theo, surprisingly, did not turn away.

In the end, Eacker threw his gun to the ground in anger and stormed off, yelling about how it was a "stupid duel" and he "couldn't give a damn about Hamilton and his bloody son anyway", among other things. Theos' favourite was "that damn woman".

Later that afternoon found Theo and Philip sat in the Hamilton sitting room, after having explained to Philips very-much-relieved parents what had happened that morning. The pair had been sat in a comfortable silence for a while now, Theo reading a book, Philip with a cup of now-cold tea in his hand, when he turned to her, "Theo, how do you think your father would react if I were to ask him for your hand?"

Theo hummed, not looking up from her book. Philip stayed quiet for a few moments, to see if she'd respond with actual words, and when nothing of the kind happened, he tried again.

"Theo?"

She looked up, "Yes?"

"How do you think your father would react if I asked him for your hand?"

She blinked at him, "What?"

"How do you thin-"

She shook her head, "No, no, I heard you the first time." Closing her book, she adjusted her body so she was properly facing him, "You want to marry me?"

Philip nodded, "I've thought about it before, but I've never been entirely sure because you've always been my best friend – and I didn't want to lose that to a marriage that ends horrible because of our fathers or our personalities or something else unforeseen – like this morning for example. It was this morning that made me realize that no matter what happens, you always have this way of making everything right again – whether its an actual problem or somethings just felt off, or I just need to get something off my chest – whenever I'm with you, it's all ok again. And – and I don't know if what I feel for you _is_ love, but I'm beginning to think it might as well be, because I'm certain I'm never going to feel this way about someone else, and -"

He was abruptly cut off by Theo practically hurling herself across the lounge and pressing her lips against his, her hands gripping the lapels of his jacket. After a moment of shock, he responded in kind, hands moving to cup her face, holding her close to him even after she pulled away.

"Definitely not the most eloquent speech you've ever made." She said after they'd regained their breath. "But in answer to your earlier question, I don't give a _damn_ about what my father says. I will most certainly marry you."

At those words Philip grinned before kissing her again, revelling in the feeling of her lips against his. They stayed locked together for several moments before the need for air caused them to break apart, foreheads resting against each other. The two grinned at each other before Theo pulled back further,

"Now, as much as I would like to stay right here, and believe me, I would, my father arrives home soon, and so if you wish to announce your intentions, I should let him know we're going to be having dinner with your family tonight. Would you prefer to do this at your home or mine?"

Philip rolled his eyes at her attempt to pull them back into polite society where sudden kisses on family loveseats do _not_ occur and responds with, "Your father has only just returned, lets not intrude upon his home and let him become comfortable with it again. You two shall dine here tonight."

Theo grinned at his attempt at formality and stood, reaching out for his hand, "Well then, you should probably alert your mother to the extra guests for tonight, and I should go and see to it my father has returned in one piece."

Hand in hand, Philip walked Theo to the door and helped her back into her coat, as they discussed details of tonight event. Outside the house and away from the prying eyes of his six siblings and parents, he kissed her one last time, before bidding her farewell.

As he watched her leave, Philip knew he would be forever glad he went with the unconventional choice in seconds, because there really was no one quite like Theodosia Burr.

 **AN: Thoughts?**


End file.
